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FiberFix emergency spokes

snoogly

Maximum Pace
Oct 14, 2007
695
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Reading M O B 's sad spoke experience on Transalp made me wonder if he should have had one of these in his pocket ...

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http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fiberfix.htm

Has anyone tried them?
 
Never tried anything like that, but another solution is 32-spoke wheels, which are usually fine to ride on after a spoke break, especially if you re-tension the remaining spokes.
 
Seems pretty cool - and you could also use the cord as a small animal snare in case the wheel fix fails completely and you need to survive in the wilds of Yamanashi. I'd carry one of these as well as an emergency derailer hanger to complete my 'survival kit'.

Phil is absolutely correct - there are certain advantages to riding 'classic' spoked wheels with multiple crosses on BOTH sides of the wheel. Among them are that you can keep riding in spite of spoke breaks. Lose a front radial spoke on a bunnyhop at 60kph and you'll know what I mean.
 
Spokes

I am just to heavy for all of this leightweight stuff.

David just broke another (paired) spoke last week on his Rolf Vector wheels at L`etappe du tour: He cut the other one of the pair as well so that the wheel becomes true again and finishes with 14 out of 16 spokes - crazy.

As commented, a standard 32 of 36 wheel is probably the solution although it looks rather uncool. Alternatively a small plastic spoke wrench (Spokey) if it fits the nipple spec (Shimano Ultegra for example does not).

I was (almost) happy with my Campagnolo Zonda wheels which get always good reviews in German cycling magazines as a reliable and sturdy set of wheels and they are not that heavy.

However, if a spoke breaks it is a double nightmare: First, there are only 21 spokes in seven groups of three (G3 system) and the wheel becomes very untrue because usually the spoke on the drive side fails.

Second, even if you mange to true the wheel again, to exchange a spoke is extremely time consuming and expensive. One needs to remove the cassette and the nipple must be inserted through the valve hole as there are no other drillings places over the spokeholes in the double-sided rim. With the help of a magnet, luck and, massive amounts of time and a good dose of general ignorance one then tries to guide the nipple somehow to the spokehole.
Good luck, the second time this happens you hand over your wheels to a bicycle shop.

Of course the Campa spoke are different for the front wheel, the left and the right side of the rear wheel and they are expensive and never on stock in any cycle shop as Campa frequently changes the specs with the model year.

The Campa wheels look great, in particular the 2005 version when rear and front wheels had G3 system layouts, unfortunately that was changed to radial lacing in the front in 2008 which looks boring.

It is a typical Italian product, great design, fatastic look but mdeiocre details and not made for service.

Sorry, I lost the topic. But if you have standard wheels, a spoke wrench wil be just fine I guess.
 
Fulcrum spoke replacement

I hear that noise about sending the nipple through the valve hole!
I just replaced a spoke on my Fulcrum racing 1 and could not find the magnet. I had to use 2 standard spokes, one to stand the nipple up inside the rim, one to thread the nipple like a needle to get it through the hole. It really sucked! about 1 hour to replace 1 spoke:cool:, no wait:confused:
And of coarse I found the magnet not 5 minutes after the repair was fineshed attached to my cone wrench I was using to adjust my 32 spoke Ambrosio wheels with campy hubs. I am putting my Ambrosios on for the Shine on charity ride, dont want any technicals with my fulcrums to slow the group down!
But if you are worried about braking spokes on long distances some people choose to carry extra spokes, usually attaching them to the chainstay on the non drive side. I have broken quite a few spokes though and have always been able to make it home at least.
 
Just curious - those wheels use ferro nipples? I can't remember the last time I built a wheel with ferro nipples. Almost always built with either brass or alloy - you must have some unobtanium magnets...
 
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